It was officially announced today that the US economy has been in recession since Dec., 2007. Although people already knew about the economic downturn, this was an official statement coming from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Many people believe that recession is defined by two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. But that is not correct. NBER looks into many factors such as labor markets, housing markets, retail and other sectors to decide the state of the economy. This also makes it one of the longest recessions since the great depression of the 1930s. However, one thing that is surprising is that even with the state of things as they are presently, many employers in the economy are still finding it hard to recruit the right kind of talent.

It is definitely not surprising that people with the right kind of skill are always in demand. And hence, even in a downturn, they are the ones who still remain in demand based on their knowledge and advanced skills/degrees. Employers requiring specially skilled work force such as technology, health care, accounting, heavy engineering, etc are all feeling the pinch in recruiting the right kind of people. So, employers are forced to raise the salary packages and/or lure people with additional benefits (including the option to work from home a few days in a week to reduce commute time/expenditure) to pick them up from their current positions. The shortage of qualified workers continues to impact employers with 59 percent of hiring managers citing it as their primary recruiting challenge, up from 52 percent in 2007. Six out of 10 employers estimate that at least a quarter of the applicants who contact them are not qualified for the positions. Thirty-one percent consider more than half of applicants unqualified. More details can be found here.

But one thing positive coming out of this scenario is the upper hand the skilled workers have in this market. With the right skills in the right place, people are now in a better position to negotiate a better salary, flexible working schedules, get funding for additional training/certificate programs, etc. Being able to make the most out of such a situation is where the smarts lie. Having a advanced degrees in such environment is more crucial.